CBD oil for dogs? Yes – your fur babies can benefit from CBD oil in much the same way you do!
You may be familiar with the natural wellness properties of CBD oil for yourself, but did you know that CBD products for dogs might also benefit your furry loved one?
In our complete guide to CBD for dogs, you’ll learn about CBD and the types of CBD products available for dogs, how to give CBD products to your pet, and how CBD can improve your dog’s health and overall wellness.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol or CBD is one of over 100 cannabinoids, naturally occurring compounds found in cannabis plants. CBD is found in significant levels in hemp, a type of cannabis plant. Unlike marijuana (hemp’s cousin), hemp is federally legal in the U.S. We’ve discovered how to extract CBD from hemp in order to make all-natural, non-intoxicating CBD products for both humans and their pets.
Benefits of CBD Oil for Dogs
With studies and anecdotal evidence continuing to reveal more exciting natural benefits of CBD oil for dogs, many pet owners have begun to incorporate CBD oil into their dog’s diets to promote general well being.
This is because dogs, just like humans, have an endocannabinoid system that interacts with cannabinoids like CBD. The endocannabinoid system is a naturally occurring regulatory network responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the body’s many functions, some of which include appetite, sleep, immune response, and metabolism. All mammals, including dogs, have this endocannabinoid system that keeps systems in balance. It’s crucial that the system functions properly in order to maintain health and well being.
While there are countless benefits of giving pets daily CBD, here’s a list of the top 5 reasons to try CBD for your dog:
1. Supports Healthy Joints
Using CBD for dogs in the form of daily products may be beneficial for supporting healthy joints in your pet. Among the wide array of functions regulated by the endocannabinoid system is the immune system. By interacting with cannabinoid receptors, cannabinoids like CBD may encourage the endocannabinoid system’s efforts to achieve optimal immunoregulation.
Plus, researchers have discovered that there are cannabinoid receptors found within the lining of the joints, suggesting that cannabinoids like CBD could interact with those receptors to naturally encourage balance to help keep your pet moving around.
2. Promotes Cardiovascular Function
Regular CBD products can also promote cardiovascular health in your furry family member. While pet heart health doesn’t get as much attention, pets can experience heart issues, just like their human companions. Researchers have already looked into the role the endocannabinoid system plays in cardiovascular system health and are learning more all the time.
Along with regular exercise, weight management, proper dental care, precautions to prevent heartworm transmission, and a healthy diet, pet CBD oil products can play a role in supporting a healthy heart and cardiovascular system.
3. Promotes Neurological Health
By stimulating the endocannabinoid system, cannabinoids like CBD may support the neurological health of your pet. The endocannabinoid system is tasked with influencing neuronal communication and affects its related biological functions, such as learning and memory.
Like humans, pets like cats and dogs have a very complex nervous system. Your pet’s nervous system — comprised of the nerves, spinal cord, and brain — is responsible for carrying messages to and from their brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body. A healthy nervous system is crucial for your pet to be able to perform simple motor and cognitive activities, and to respond to stimuli and commands you give them.
CBD’s interaction with the endocannabinoid system encourages balance in the nervous system, which in turn helps contribute to your pet living as healthy and happy for as long as possible.
4. Promotes Healthy Emotional Behavior
CBD’s natural balancing effects can promote proper emotional behavior, helping ensure that your furry loved one is happy and better able to cope with everyday challenging situations.
Pets can experience a wide range of emotions. If you’re like most pet owners, you’re likely worried about your pet’s stress levels in certain situations. A veterinary visit, a stay at the kennel, being placed in a pet carrier, fireworks, or a trip to the pet groomer can elicit stress or separation fear.
The endocannabinoid system is responsible for regulating mood, suggesting that CBD hemp oil for dogs may stimulate the system and support its efforts to keep your pet’s emotional health in balance.
5. Keeps Your Dog’s Skin Healthy
Pet skin problems often lead to scratching, hair loss, and excessive licking, and they’re among the most common issues presented to veterinarians.
By supporting your dog’s endocannabinoid system with daily CBD products, you can also support the health of your dog’s largest organ – its skin. The endocannabinoid system is known to regulate skin cells and hair, so CBD’s natural health properties may promote balance in the structure and function of your pet’s skin and coat. Daily CBD servings can help your pet’s skin be supple rather than flaky or bumpy, and can help their coat be shiny and smooth.
Containing a myriad of nutrients, hemp-derived CBD oil products can also help ensure your pet gets the nutrients it needs for optimal skin and coat health. CBD oil contains an ideal ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, which play an important role in reducing inflammation. Nutrients like vitamins A and D promote skin repair and encourage skin growth, while vitamins C and E are antioxidants that can protect your pet’s skin against damage caused by free radicals and environmental exposure.
While the American Veterinary Medical Association has yet to take an official stance on CBD oil, they have adopted a position acknowledging the potential benefits of cannabis in pets: “There is a growing body of veterinary evidence … This herb may be able to improve the quality of life for many patients” Many veterinarians and pet owners have embraced the benefits of CBD for pets.
Because of the way CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system, if you’ve found daily CBD to be a benefit to you, it’s likely that the product will also be beneficial for your dog in the same ways.
Many dog owners also find that the nutritional profile of CBD hemp oil matches the requirements of their pets. Full-spectrum CBD hemp oil also supplies a myriad of important nutrients like vitamins A, B12, C, and E, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Side Effects of CBD for Dogs
Of course, dog owners want to make sure that the CBD products they give to their pets are safe and have no adverse side effects. For dog owners, CBD oil for dogs allows their furry loved one to benefit from cannabinoids without any euphoric or adverse effects when used at suggested serving sizes. CBD is non-toxic and well-tolerated in mammals. Plus, because hemp oil contains only a trace amount of THC, there aren’t intoxicating effects, making CBD oil a safe choice for your dog.
What Are Your Options With Pet CBD Products?
Many pet owners have begun to incorporate pet-specific CBD productsinto their pet’s diets to promote well-being. Common CBD products for pets include CBD-infused treats and CBD liquids that can be added to food.
Through our subsidiary Phyto Animal Health, Medical Marijuana, Inc. offers a range of CBD oil products specifically designed to promote overall health and mental wellbeing in your dog. After consulting with leading veterinarians, Phyto Animal Health created safe, effective daily CBD products that are perfect for your four-legged family member.
In our online shop, you’ll find:
Vitality™: The Vitality™ daily CBD oil product is an all-natural CBD hemp oil product that blends decarboxylated hemp oil with medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil derived from organic coconut oil. Containing 100 mg of CBD in the 1-ounce bottle or 500 mg of CBD in the 2-ounce bottle, Vitality™ provides your dog all the botanical effects of full-spectrum CBD hemp oil.
Vitality-X™: While similar to Vitality™, our Vitality-X™ is an ideal CBD product for dog owners looking to eliminate exposure to THC. The decarboxylated hemp oil in Vitality-X™ has undergone an additional process to filter out plant materials, excess waxes, and all the small amounts of cannabinoids other than CBD. Each 4-ounce bottle of Vitality-X™ contains 1000 mg of CBD.
HempBone Bacon Apple Donuts: Artisanally-baked HempBone Bacon Apple Donuts CBD dog treats are crafted using natural bacon, cinnamon, and apple ingredients for a delicious flavor your pet will love. Our tasty, CBD-infused dog treats are made free of corn, wheat, and soy, and each treat is infused with 4 mg of CBD.
These dog-friendly CBD oil products are designed for everyday use to promote well being. All of our CBD products are Triple Lab Tested® for both safety and potency, so you can trust that our CBD oil for dogs is of the highest quality and is completely free from contaminants like mold and mildew, microbes, chemicals, heavy metals, and more.
Is CBD Oil Right for My Dog?
When researching the connection between dogs and CBD, many pet owners who have learned about CBD wonder if they should give their dog CBD oil products. CBD products that are specifically designed for pets, like those from Phyto Animal Health, offer various advantages over CBD products designed for humans, including:
- CBD oils for dogs contain cannabinoid concentrations that are more suitable for pets. CBD serving sizes in pet-specific CBD products are adjusted to account for a pet’s size and weight. As nearly all pets are significantly smaller than adult humans, not as much CBD is needed to adequately stimulate the endocannabinoid system.
- Serving methods that lend themselves to administering a product to a cat, dog, or horse. Pet-specific CBD products also generally are available in a versatile pourable liquid that is simple to measure and mix into food, and easy-to-administer CBD-infused treats.
- Formulated with flavors pets love. To help with dogs who are picky eaters and don’t particularly enjoy CBD oil’s naturally light grassy flavor, CBD is available in the form of treats that feature natural bacon and apple ingredients and cinnamon flavors.
How to Give Pets CBD
Dog-specific CBD products are designed as an everyday product to support your pet’s wellbeing. There are a variety of administration methods pet owners can choose from to add CBD to a pet’s daily diet.
One of the most convenient delivery methods, CBD oil for dogs comes in a pourable liquid can be given:
- From a Spoon: An easy way to give your dog their Vitality™ CBD liquid is to measure out your desired serving for your dog onto a spoon. Your dog can then lick the CBD liquid from the spoon. This method works best for pets who don’t mind the taste of Vitality™.
- On a Treat: Vitality™ can also be dripped onto your pet’s favorite treats and given to them anytime throughout the day. Generally, wide, dry dog treats work the best for absorbing the CBD liquid. You want to try not to wet the treat too much. If you are using smaller treats, you may want to split your Vitality™ CBD liquid among a few treats.
- Mixed into Food: Many of our customers will mix their pet’s Phyto Animal Health CBD liquid directly in with their pet’s food. Whether it is wet or dry food, Vitality™ can be dripped into your dog’s food and then mixed thoroughly to ensure even saturation throughout the food.
- Dripped onto Your Dog’s Paw: A clever way to get your dog to take their daily Vitality™ CBD product is to drip the oil directly onto their paw. Slowly drip the desired about of CBD liquid onto your dog’s paw. Your dog will then naturally lick the CBD liquid off their paw. Are you using a large serving size? Administer part of the serving to the paw, allowing your dog to lick it off completely. Then complete the serving. This will keep Vitality™ from spilling off your dog’s paw and onto the floor.
CBD products in the form of a treat can be given as a pet owner normally gives their pet a treat. A large majority of pets, particularly dogs, are motivated by treats, making CBD dog treats a highly effective way to administer a daily serving.
How Much CBD Should I Give My Dog?
While you may be looking for a recommended “dose” of CBD in the traditional sense, the fact is there is no such thing available for CBD products.
Wellness products designed for pets are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA considers all ingestible products for pets as “feed supplements” and classifies them as either “foods” or “new animal drugs.”
The FDA, however, has not provided any type of recommended daily serving size for CBD for pets. To comply with FDA regulations, Medical Marijuana, Inc. does not list any type of Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of our own for any of our products, but we do offer suggested serving sizes as a starting point for pet owners.
When using Phyto Animal Health Vitality™ CBD liquids, it is suggested you use ¼ teaspoon daily. Owners of small breeds 30 lbs or smaller should use Vitality™ 100. For pets 30 lbs or larger, owners should use ¼ teaspoon each day. The suggested serving size for Vitality-X™ is ¼ teaspoon for dogs under 30 lbs and ½ teaspoon for dogs over 30 lbs. Owners of larger dogs can use up to a full teaspoon daily.
Ultimately, the amount of CBD you feel is best for your dog is up to you and your pet’s veterinarian. You may find that your dog responds best with either a higher or lower CBD serving than recommended usage amounts.
When trying to determine the ideal amount of CBD for your dog, it is recommended that you first begin with a small serving below the recommended serving size and gradually work your way up over a series of weeks. This allows you to monitor how your pet responds to the CBD products and helps you dial in on the optimal serving size.
Can Other Animals Benefit from CBD?
Humans and dogs aren’t the only mammals who can take advantage of CBD’s effects. The truth is that all mammals, including your animals at home, can use CBD. That is because all mammals share a common endocannabinoid system, so you can use Phyto Animal Health CBD oil products on your pets and livestock animals like cats, horses, goats, sheep, alpacas, and more.
We Care About Your Dog’s Safety
Medical Marijuana, Inc. and our family of companies take important steps to ensure the integrity of our products and to protect the health of your dog.
Phyto Animal Health are members of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), adhering to the organization’s high standards of manufacturing quality control. The NASC is a non-profit group dedicated to protecting and enhancing the health of animals.
By bottling our pet products in an FDA-compliant cGMP facility and following their quality standards, we ensure that Phyto Animal Health’s products are safe and of the highest quality.
All Phyto Animal Health CBD products are Triple Lab Tested® to ensure their purity and consistency. This rigorous testing process uses independent laboratories to examine our CBD oil at three separate points during our manufacturing process to ensure it contains an ideal cannabinoid concentration and that it’s free of contaminants – including mold and mildew, microbes, chemicals, and heavy metals – to protect your pet’s health.
It’s because of these strict manufacturing and testing standards that we are confident that you can trust the quality of our CBD hemp oil products for your furry family members.
Get Your Dog Started with CBD
Help your fur baby be healthy, happy, and safe by starting them on a daily CBD oil routine today by visiting our online shop and exploring our full selection of CBD for pets.
